The old chess masters didn't wear any chessboards and books with them. Instead they were working long hours as lawyers, doctors, etc. They were very smart people and chess was like pastime after other more important duties. Life at that time was more difficult than today. No phones, emails, cars, etc. When Morphy was born there were no electricity. Imagine how difficult it was to do everydays business at those times.
Chess is a game of talent. Sure you can improve a few hundred points as an adult if you put a lot of effort in it, but that's all. I simply don't buy that Fischer was walking with a chessboard because he couldn't visualise positions in his head. Even later on Kasparov who didn't give blindfold exhibitions was analysing games and finding moves in his head while walking to a chessclub, theatre, and so on. Fischer practiced chess a lot. True, but what was his aim? If he was doing what old masters did, he would be just a GM. To become a world champion he had to go above that. At that time chess theory was so big, that he must have become obsessed with chess to be world's number 1. Finally he said chess is a goddamn game and quit it for good. This is where such hard work on chess leads to.
Pointlesswindows,
A very thought - provoking post. It made me think of the evolution of chess in the 20th century up until World War II ( 1900 to 1939 ). What you say was probably true of most ordinary masters / grandmasters / even most of the Top 10 players in the world. But what of the 3 Giants of pre - WW II chess , Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine ?
Lasker was indeed a multi -faceted genius, and the amount of time he spent studying chess was probably dwarfed by the combined amount of time he put into his professional work in mathematics and philosophy, as well as his "hobby" work and writings on the games of Bridge, Go , Lasca , and Game Theory in general. By all appearances Lasker's chess talent was exceptional even amongst the pantheon of world champions. He had sufficient time and leisure to do chess study and training had he desired to pursue it. But he seemed to only occasionally analyze games , and kept up only "loosely" with new developments in chess. He did little preparation for tournaments and matches, sometimes having to play himself into full strength / top form , in the early rounds. But he was a player of such immense talent that even given these self -imposed limitations, he had no serious rival until Capa came along.
Capa, once his talent and public relations value were recognized by the Cuban government, was granted a sinecure position by his country, and functioned as a kind of globe -trotting international good will ambassador. He could spend as little time as he liked on "work activities" , but was another genius who chose to not put a whole lot of time into chess study or training.
Alekhine was obsessed ! He might be the first materialization of a true chess professional, in the full modern sense of that phrase. Once he immigrated to the west in 1921, he supported him exclusively through chess. He played in and won prizes (usually first or 2nd ) in more chess tournaments than anyone else in that pre - WW II era. And of course he earned very generous prize money for his championship matches of 1927 , 1929 , 1934 , 1935 and 1937. He studied chess constantly : Pouring over all the games from international play he could get his hands on , finding mistakes, improvements, new ideas ; analyzing old and new opening lines / creating surprises and traps ; teaching himself how to win endgames. I seriously doubt that he trained with "puzzles" , as we think of it today. But in a sense his whole everyday life was training his mind -- to solve puzzles that occurred over the board.
<Comment deleted by user>
Triangel,
I don't think we disagree very much. I too think Capa studied. I just think that after 1921, he put little time into it any more, probably not much more than Lasker. And way, way less than masters like Nimzovich, Alekhine. and previously Steinitz, Tarrasch. Those masters continued to work on their game once they were in their prime. I could be incorrect, but my impression is that Capa did not put much daily work into chess. That is what he himself stated. Granted, he had a huge enough ego that I don't put it past him to have exaggerated the amount he depended on simple natural talent, to make himself seem even more god-like.
Fun Discussion
Calculations with endagame practice, specially pawn endgames and tactics with books.
